Funding Agreement
between the
Commonwealth of Australia
as represented by the
Australian Research Council
and
Administering Organisation
regarding funding for
Discovery Projects
to commence in
2012
Table of Clauses
Parties & Recitals
1Definitions
2Interpretation
3Entire Agreement and Variation
4Term of Agreement and Funding Period
5Payment of Funding
6Accuracy of Information
7Use of the Funding: Activities, Facilities and Types of Work
8Use of the Funding: Provision of Salaries and Relief for Teaching and for Other Duties
9Over-expenditure by the Administering Organisation
10Multi-Institutional Agreements
11Commencement of Project
12Deferment of Commencement of Project
13Suspension of Project
14Specified Personnel
15 Change of Specified Personnel
16Transfer of Project or Specified Personnel
17Negation of Employment by the Commonwealth
18Conduct of Research
19Conduct of Elements of Projects: Identification of Discovery Outstanding Researcher Award
20Material Produced under this Agreement, Publication and Dissemination of Research Outputs
21ARC Assessments
22Assets
23Intellectual Property
24Protection of Personal Information
25Confidentiality
26Compliance with Commonwealth Policies
27Acknowledgments, Publications, Publicity
28Administration of the Funding
29Audit and Monitoring
30Access to Premises and Records
31 Reporting Requirements
32Australian Research Integrity Committee
33Copyright in Proposals and Reports
34Recovery of Unspent Funds or Overpayments of Funds
35Indemnity
36Insurance
37Dispute Resolution
38Termination of the Agreement
39Compliance with Law
40Liaison
41Applicable Law
SCHEDULE A
SCHEDULE B
SCHEDULE C
Parties & Recitals
THIS AGREEMENT is made on the _____ day of ______20______
between the
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA (‘the Commonwealth’), as represented by and acting through the Australian Research Council (‘the ARC’) [ABN 35 201 451 156]
and
Administering Organisation>(‘the Administering Organisation’)
WHEREAS:
A.The Commonwealth through the ARC operates the Discovery Projects Scheme (‘the Scheme’);
B.The Commonwealth accepts that the Administering Organisation is an eligible body for the purposes of the Scheme, and the Commonwealth may provide financial assistance to support the Administering Organisation to conduct the Projects including the approved Funding elements, being those described in Schedule A;
C.The Commonwealth is required by law to ensure the accountability of Funding and, accordingly, the Administering Organisation is required to be accountable for all Commonwealth Funding it receives under this Agreement; and
D.The Commonwealth wishes to provide Funding under the Scheme to the Administering Organisation for the purposes, and subject to the terms and conditions, set out in this Agreement.
IT IS HEREBY AGREED as follows:
1Definitions
In this Agreement, unless the contrary intention appears:
ABN has the meaning given in section 41 of the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999.
Administering Organisationmeans an Eligible Organisation which submits a Proposal for funding under Discovery Projects and which will be responsible for the administration of the funding if the Project is approved for funding.
Approved Proposal means a proposal that has been approved for Funding by the Minister in accordance with the ARC Act.
ARC means the Australian Research Council, as established under the ARC Act.
ARC Act means the Australian Research Council Act 2001 or the Act.
ARC Fellowship means a position within any ARC scheme where the salary is funded wholly or partly by the ARC and where the researcher in that position was a named participant in a Proposal.
ARC website is
Assetincludes personal, real or incorporeal property, but shall not include intellectual property.
Audited Financial Statement means the statement to be submitted by the Administering Organisation by 30 June each year in accordance with paragraph 58(1)(b) of the ARC Act.
Chief Executive Officer or CEO means the occupant of the position from time to time of the Chief Executive Officer of the ARC, or the delegate, as established under the ARC Act.
Chief Investigator or CI means a person named in the Proposal as Chief Investigatorfor a particular Project, or as otherwise approved by the Minister and includes any replacement person or persons approved by the Minister in accordance with clause 15.
Collaborating Organisationmeans any Eligible Organisation which is identified in the Proposal as a contributor to the project but is not the Administering Organisation.
Commonwealth means the Commonwealth of Australia.
Confidential Informationmeans any information which the parties agree is confidential or that isby its nature confidential.
Conflict of Interest means an actual or perceived conflict between a person’s public duty and their private or personal interest.
Department means the Commonwealth Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.
Discovery Outstanding Researcher Award (DORA) means an Award available in conjunction with Discovery Projects that funds a CI salary.
Eligible Organisation means an organisation which is eligible to apply for and receive funding under the Discovery Projects Funding Rules.
End of Year Reportmeans the report described in clause 31.2.
Final Report means the report described in clause 31.4.
Funding Agreement means this document.
Funding or Fundsmeans the amount or amounts payable under this agreement for each Project as specified in Schedule A.
Funding Periodmeans the approved period set out in Schedule A for that Project, or as otherwise approved in writing by the Minister.
Funding Rulesmeans the Discovery Projects Funding Rules for Funding Commencing in 2012.
GST has the meaning as given in section 195-1 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999.
Intellectual Property includes all copyright and neighbouring rights, all rights in relation to inventions (including patent rights), plant varieties, registered and unregistered trademarks (including service marks), registered designs, Confidential Information (including trade secrets and know how and circuit layouts), and all other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields.
Material includes documents, equipment, software, goods, information and data stored by any means.
Minister means the Minister from time to time responsible for the administration of the ARC Act, or the Minister’s delegate.
NHMRCmeans the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Partner Investigatoror PImeans a researcher named in the Proposal who satisfies the eligibility criteria for a Partner Investigator, or as otherwise approved by the Minister and includes any replacement person or persons approved by the Minister in accordance with clause 15.
Personnelmeans those persons involved in the conduct of the Project.
Privacy Commissioner means the person occupying the position of Privacy Commissioner from time to time pursuant to the Privacy Act 1988.
Progress Reportmeans the report described in clause 31.3.
Project means any Project as described in Schedule A, or as otherwise approved by the Minister for Funding under this Agreement.
Project Leadermeans the first-named CI on the Proposal, or such other person otherwise approved by the Minister and includes any replacement person approved by the Minister in clause 15.1.
Proposal means a request to the ARC for the provision of financial assistance for a research project which is submitted in accordance with the Funding Rules.
Recipient Created Tax Invoicemeans a tax invoice that is issued by the recipient of the goods and/or services rather than the supplier.
Research Office means a business unit within an organisation that is responsible for administrative contact with the ARC regarding Proposals and Projects.
Responsible Officermeans the Vice Chancellor or other corporate head of the Administering Organisation or an officer nominated by her/him.
Scheme has the meaning given in Parties and Recitals.
Scheme Coordinator means the occupant from time to time of the position of Scheme Coordinator (Discovery Projects) in the ARC, or any other person to whom the administration of the Discovery Projectsscheme may be allocated.
Special Conditions means the conditions specified in Schedules A and C which govern the use of the Funding.
Specified Personnelmeans the Chief Investigator(s)and Partner Investigator(s) named in Schedule A to perform the Project or as otherwise approved by the Minister.
UA means Universities Australia.
2Interpretation
2.1In this Agreement, unless the contrary intention appears:
(a)words in the singular number include the plural and words in the plural number include the singular;
(b)words importing a gender include any other gender;
(c)words importing persons include a partnership and a body whether corporate or otherwise;
(d)clause headings, words capitalised or in bold or italic format and notes in square brackets (‘[ ]’) are inserted for convenience only, and have no effect in limiting or extending the language of provisions, except for the purpose of rectifying any erroneous cross-reference;
(e)all references to clauses are to clauses in this Agreement, and all references to a schedule refer to a schedule in this Agreement;
(f)all references to dollars are to Australian dollars and this Agreement uses Australian currency;
(g)reference to any statute or other legislation (whether primary or subordinate) is to a statute or other legislation of the Commonwealth and, if it has been or is amended, replaced or supplemented, is a reference to that statute or other legislation as amended, replaced or supplemented;
(h)where any word or phrase is given a defined meaning, any other part of speech or other grammatical form in respect of that word or phrase has a corresponding meaning.
2.2This Agreement is subject to the ARC Act. If there is any conflict between this Agreement and theAct, then the Act prevails to the extent of any inconsistency.
3Entire Agreement and Variation
3.1This Agreement, including Schedules, the Proposal for each Project and the Funding Rules, constitutes the entire agreement between the parties and supersedes all communications, negotiations, arrangements and agreements, whether oral or written, between the parties with respect to the subject matter of this Agreement.
3.2Notwithstanding clause 3.1, the Minister may at any time impose other requirements or conditions in connection with any Funding covered by this Agreement as provided for under the ARC Act. The Administering Organisation must as soon as possible, or as otherwise agreed in writing with the ARC, comply (or procure compliance) with any other Ministerial conditions or requirements notified by the ARC from time to time. In the event of any inconsistency between this Agreement and any such further requirements or conditions, the Administering Organisation will not be taken to have breached this Agreement where it has acted consistently with any further requirements or conditions notified under this clause.
3.3If any part of this Agreement conflicts with any other part, that part higher in the following list shall take precedence:
(a)the terms and conditions contained in the clauses of the Agreement;
(b)the Schedules;
(c)the Funding Rules; and
(d)the Proposal.
3.4The Administering Organisation and the Commonwealth may agree to vary this Agreement. Other than as expressly provided for in this Agreement, any variation to this Agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties.
3.5The Administering Organisation is required to do all things incidental or reasonably necessary to give effect to this Agreement, including procuring third parties to do such incidental or reasonably necessary things. This includes, but is not limited to, the Administering Organisation’s securing the agreement of all parties involved in Projects to abide by the terms and conditions of this Agreement.
4Term of Agreement and Funding Period
4.1This Agreement takes effect on the date it has been executed by the Administering Organisation and the ARC and continues to operate until all parties have fulfilled their obligations under this Agreement.
4.2Subject to clauses 4.3 and 5 of this Agreement, the period of Funding is the Funding Period unless the Funding is terminated earlier in accordance with this Agreement.
4.3The Funding Period for any Project including any element is indicative only of the intent of the Minister at the time of making the offer of Funding and is not binding on the Commonwealth. In the event that the Minister subsequently makes a determination under section 54 of the ARC Act to vary the Funding, this Agreement will continue to apply to any Project, including Awards or granted financial assistance under such a determination.
5Payment of Funding
5.1Subject to the provisions of the ARC Act, the terms of this Agreement and sufficient program funding being available for the Scheme, the Commonwealth shall pay the Funds to the Administering Organisation for each Project in progressive monthly instalments in accordance with Schedule A.
5.2All Funding for a Project is subject to the following conditions:
(a)that the Project commence in accordance with clause 11, or by any later date approved by the ARC under clause 12;
(b)that the Chief Investigator identified as the Project leader (or any replacement person approved by the Minister under clause 15.1) lead and co-ordinate the Project at all times during the Funding Period, including by having direct responsibility for the strategic decisions and the communication of results for the Project;
(c)that the Administering Organisation conduct the Project substantially in accordance with the ‘Project Description’ contained in the Proposal, or in the event of any variation to the Project, in accordance with the description, aims and research plan as otherwise approved by the Minister;
(d)that the Administering Organisation spend all funds paid under this Agreement for each Project substantially in accordance with the ‘Project Cost’ detailed in the Proposal for that Project and any Special Conditions, or the budget as otherwise approved by the ARC and any conditions otherwise imposed by the Minister in accordance with the ARC Act, and in accordance with the requirements of this Agreement and the Funding Rules;
(e)that the Administering Organisation only receive Funding under this Agreement to which it is properly entitled.
(f)that the Administering Organisation submit on time all reports required under this Agreement, in the form and with content satisfactory to the ARC;
(g)that progress of the Project is, in the opinion of the Chief Executive Officer, satisfactory;
(h)that each Chief Investigator (or any replacement person or persons approved by the Ministerunder clause 15.1), at all times during her/his participation in a Project as a Chief Investigator, meet the criteria specified in section 7.2 of the Funding Rules, including by having direct responsibility for the strategic decisions and the communication of results for the Project;
(i)that each Partner Investigator (or any replacement persons approved by the Minister or ARC under clause 15.1), at all times during her/his participation in a Project as a Partner Investigator, meet the criteria specified in section 7.3 of the Funding Rules, including by having direct responsibility for the strategic decisions and the communication of results for the Project;
(j)that the ARC is advised in a timely manner of any and all Conflicts of Interest of parties involved in the Project which have the potential to influence or appear to influence the research and/or activities related to the Project;
(k)that the ARC is advised in a timely manner of any and all other Commonwealth funding which has been, is being, or is intended to be provided for the research and/or activities funded under this Agreement;
(l)that there is no duplication of Commonwealth funding for the research and/or activities funded for the Project under this Agreement; and
(m)that the Administering Organisation comply with any other requirements or conditions imposed by the Minister in connection with any Funding covered by this Agreement.
5.3If the Administering Organisation does not meet any one or more of the conditions listed in clause 5.2 in respect of a Project, the Commonwealth may do any or all of the following:
(a)not pay the Administering Organisation any further Funds for that Project;
(b)recover all or some of the Funds paid under this Agreement for that Project, including all unspent Funds and any funds not spent in accordance with this Agreement;
(c)vary the amount of Funding approved for that Project.
5.4The Administering Organisation must pay to the Commonwealth the amount specified in any notice received under clause 5.3(b) within 30 days of the date of that notice.
5.5The Commonwealth will pay to the Administering Organisation, by way of financial assistance in accordance with the ARC Act, the approved amounts set out in Schedule A, which is net of any GST which may be imposed on the supply.
5.6Where the invoice relates to a taxable supply made under this contract, the invoice must comply with the requirement for a tax invoice as defined in the GST Act.
5.7The Commonwealth shall have the right to unilaterally vary the amounts for any or all Projects.
5.8The ARC notional Award rates and other allowances as set out in Schedule B are applicable as at 1 January 2012. In the event that the Minister makes a determination under section 54 of the ARC Act, the Commonwealth shall have the right to unilaterally vary the Award rates set out in Schedule B of this Agreement.
5.9Where the Commonwealth exercises its right under clause 5.3, 5.7 or 5.8 above, it shall inform the Administering Organisation of the variation within 30 days of that variation having been made.
6Accuracy of Information
6.1The provision of any Funding for a Project is conditional on all information contained in the Proposal for that Project and all reports required by this Agreement from the Administering Organisation being complete, accurate and not misleading. The Commonwealth regards inaccurate and misleading information as including, but not being limited to, claiming fictitious track records, inflating funds obtained from other sources and false claims in the publication record, e.g. describing a paper as being ‘in press’ or accepted even if it has only been submitted.
6.2If the Commonwealth considers that a Proposal for a Project, or any report provided under this Agreement, contains incomplete, inaccurate or misleading information, the Commonwealth may by notice in writing to the Administering Organisation do any or all of the following:
(a)not pay the Administering Organisation any further Funds for that Project;
(b)recover all or some of the Funds paid under this Agreement for that Project, including all unspent Funds and any Funds not spent in accordance with this Agreement;
(c)vary the amount of Funding approved for that Project.
7Use of the Funding: Activities, Facilities and Types of Work
7.1The Administering Organisation will ensure that each Project is carried out in accordance with this Agreement in a diligent and competent manner. In addition, each Projectwill be conducted in accordance with the ‘Project Description’ contained in the Proposal, or any revised budget, aims and research plan which have been submitted by the Administering Organisation and approved by the Minister.